There is a famous saying that hunger is not an issue of charity; it is an issue of justice. This is correct because there is gross injustice regarding the distribution of food throughout the world, particularly in the countries of the third world. It is an open secret that all the people in the world don’t have access to the required food. An absence of requisite access to food means a direct threat to the overall development of society and the community. On the other hand, a nutritious, healthy, and culturally befitting square meal that cultivates a sense of pride, dignity, and satiety in the people of the communities that goes a long way to building a healthy community and society.
Food Justice Movement Legacy
Justice for food has always been at the helm of social activism. The food justice movement became organized and more intense with the establishment of the United Nations. The legacy still continues as many organizations throughout the world are working to ensure that food-deprived communities get adequate food which is their right. In this regard, the black people and indigenous people of the USA deserve special mention because they have a long history of struggle not only for racial justice but for access to adequate food also.
Modern Political Reaction
The food movement got greatly publicized during the president ship of Barrack Obama, who is known to pass the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act in the year 2010. He also gave a call to improve the standard of nutrition in the National School Lunch Program. Despite some initial setbacks, the law became legally effective. A survey that was done in 2020 by the University Of Washington School Of Public Health concluded that children belonging to low-income families had been receiving more nutritious and healthy meals in their schools.
What Makes Food Justice a Necessity?
The faulty food system dominated by junk food joints causes many Americans to go malnourished. The low-income families are the most affected ones. This can also be understood by the fact that the food insecurity rate for Afro-American households is double in comparison to white people. Apart from it, due to the substandard quality of food, some diseases like diabetes, cancer, heart ailment, and stroke are quite prevalent. These diseases are one of the major reasons for disability as well as deaths of American people. The US minority groups are the worst affected as they have very restricted access to nutritious food. These factors account for the necessity for food justice.
Goals of the Food Justice Movement
The food justice movement has now become a sort of umbrella that gives shelter. It has transformed into various goals and different movements. All of these are known to respond to the wider needs and requirements of underprivileged communities. The food movement’s responsibilities are to highlight systemic causes of food injustices and to restore the sovereignty of food to BIPOC communities. It strives to create an improved food system that can meet the highest definition of justice. In this regard, the food movement can establish a nexus between food justice, animal rights movements, and the environment. This strategy is surely giving the food justice and causing more resilience in the days to come.
